I set up a radio station for aliens

John Shepherd is a self-taught electronics whizz. From a young age he was fascinated by science and electricity. He'd spend his days collecting discarded radio and tv sets and re-fashioning them into new devices. He used his skills for an unsual pursuit - he wanted to reach out to potential extra-terrestrial life. This was the 60s, the space race was in full swing and there was a collective fascination with alien life and UFOs. But how do you start a conversation with an alien? Initially he transmitted binary tones in an attempt to make contact. But he later settled on a different way to communicate, he started broadcasting reggae, afrobeat, jazz, and more, the ‘universal language’ of music. There's a Netflix documentary about John's story called John Was Trying to Contact Aliens. Any comments please email us on [email protected] Presenter: Emily Webb Producer: Andrea Kennedy Picture: John Shepherd Credit: dougcurran.photography